Film Career · Sound
Audio Operator
Sound · IATSE Local 695 and Local 700
- Union
- IATSE Local 695 and Local 700
- Day rate
- ~$450–$750/day
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does an Audio Operator do?
The audio operator is a working craft position in the sound department on film and television productions.
On union productions the position falls under IATSE Local 695 and Local 700, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in sound are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does an Audio Operator make?
- Production and post sound is paid by the day or week: boom and utility roughly $450-$750 a day, mixers and supervising editors far more, plus kit rentals for production sound.
- Roughly $60K-$220K+ a year (IATSE Local 695 and 700).
Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.
Sources & how we estimate pay
Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:
Union rate cards & wage schedules
Official guild scale — the floor each craft is paid from.
- IATSE — 2024 Basic Agreement wage scales (PDF) ↗
- IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) — camera rate cards ↗
- DGA — minimum salary rate cards (director, unit production manager, assistant directors) ↗
- WGA — schedule of minimums (writers) ↗
- SAG-AFTRA — theatrical & background rate sheets (cast, stunts, background) ↗
- Teamsters Local 399 — basic feature wage rates, 2024–27 (transportation, locations, wranglers) (PDF) ↗
Government wage data
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the closest federal occupation.
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You have sharp ears and command of audio gear
Soft skills
- You like hands-on work and getting the details right
- You take pride in doing your specific craft well, day in and day out
Career progression
The role advances the way most sound careers do: repeat hires from the same department heads, growing responsibility within the craft, and a reputation that travels between productions faster than any resume.
How do you become an Audio Operator?
The working route in is through the sound department's junior positions: assist the people holding this chair, learn the standards the department runs on, and take the small versions of the job wherever they are offered.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE Local 695 and Local 700 contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.